US Virgin Islands or Vieques?

Both are superb beach destinations, and the sea is equally warm on both, but the beaches feel different. In the US Virgin Islands the famous names are well known and well used: Trunk Bay and Maho Bay inside St John's national park, the long sheltered curve of Magens Bay, and Coki Point, where you can snorkel straight from the sand.

On Vieques the reward is emptiness. Sun Bay and Media Luna near Esperanza are calm and shallow, and the refuge beaches such as Caracas and La Chiva often have hardly anyone on them. Many are reached by dirt tracks and have no lifeguard or café, so you bring your own shade and water. On both, the Caribbean-facing coves are the calmer choice when winter swell hits the north shores.

The US Virgin Islands give you more to eat and more variety. St Croix has a real West Indian kitchen of kallaloo, fungi, goat stew and pates, plus its rum distilleries, and the resort areas of St Thomas and Cruz Bay add fine dining for visitors.

Vieques eats simply: fish tacos and mofongo on the Esperanza seafront, alcapurrias from roadside kiosks and a few guesthouse kitchens. Many places keep short hours or close for days out of season. On both islands most supplies are shipped in, but on Vieques that leaves the menus thinner.

The US Virgin Islands have far more history to see. Nearly two centuries of Danish rule left the arcaded streets and yellow fort of Christiansted and the stepped lanes and red Fort Christian of Charlotte Amalie. The plantation ruins at Annaberg and the restored estate at Whim tell the story of sugar and slavery.

On Vieques an afternoon covers it: the small Spanish fort above Isabel Segunda, whose museum tells the striking story of the island's decades as a naval bombing range, plus a couple of lighthouses and a huge old ceiba tree.

Neither is a clubbing destination, but the US Virgin Islands have a proper evening scene. Red Hook and Cruz Bay fill with charter-boat sailors and rum drinkers who spill out into the street, and carnival on St Thomas and the Crucian Christmas festival keep the road marches going late for weeks.

Vieques is much quieter after dark. A few open-air bars on the Esperanza seafront and some local bars in Isabel Segunda are the whole of it, and for many visitors the night out is the kayak trip on the bioluminescent bay.

These two are broadly level outdoors, and the main difference is what you do. The US Virgin Islands are best on the water and on St John: the national park covers most of that island, the Reef Bay trail runs down past petroglyphs to the sea, and the sheltered channels are easy for sailing, kayaking and diving.

Vieques has the more memorable night. Mosquito Bay is one of the brightest bioluminescent bays anywhere, brighter than St Croix's Salt River Bay. By day you can cycle or birdwatch through the dry forest and salt ponds of the wildlife refuge, with semi-wild horses grazing by the road.

From the US Virgin Islands it is easy to go island-hopping. St Thomas and St John are a short ferry apart, and Jost Van Dyke, Tortola and Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands are within reach for anyone carrying a passport.

Vieques is a place to stay put. Culebra and Flamenco Beach are the one real outing, and you need a chartered boat to get there. Old San Juan makes a long day once you add the crossing and the drive.

With children, the US Virgin Islands are the easier choice. Besides calm bays such as Magens and Maho, the marine park at Coki Point has touch pools and an underwater observatory, and resorts with their own beach on St Thomas's east end make life simple. For American families, no passport is needed.

Vieques works for families who are happy with shallow water at Media Luna, the horses by the road and a night kayak that older children will remember. But there are no lifeguards, little shade and only limited medical care, and the ferry and the need for a jeep add effort.

On St Thomas and St John you can leave the driving to someone else. Open-sided safari taxis run fixed routes between town and beach, and frequent ferries link Red Hook and Cruz Bay. The roads are steep and narrow, and adding St Croix is the only part that needs real planning, because it means a flight or a long ferry ride.

Vieques has no useful public transport apart from the shared public cars between the ferry and Esperanza, and getting there is the hard part. The ferries from Ceiba are known for selling out, so many people fly in on small planes instead. The refuge beaches are at the end of rough dirt tracks, and the island has only a small number of jeeps to drive them, so they go early.

The US Virgin Islands are much the better place to shop. The duty-free jewellers and watch dealers in the old warehouses along Charlotte Amalie's Main Street are a real draw if you want gemstones or a watch. For something local, try the studios in Christiansted, the craft shops of Mongoose Junction or a Crucian hook bracelet.

On Vieques there is little to buy beyond some local art and beachwear from a handful of galleries in Esperanza and Isabel Segunda.

Both are expensive, but Vieques costs a little less. Simple guesthouses in Esperanza, cooking for yourself and taking the ferry keep costs down, though the jeep you cannot do without is a significant expense.

In the US Virgin Islands the costs build up faster, especially in winter. Resorts and villas on St John and east St Thomas are expensive, and safari taxis charge per person, which adds up for a family. St Croix and the St John campgrounds are the more modest options.

Neither is a place to plan a trip around concerts, but the US Virgin Islands have a music that grew up on the islands and is still played there. Quelbe, the scratch-band folk sound from the plantation days, sits alongside steel pan and calypso, and stilt-walking mocko jumbies lead the carnival parades. Your best chance of hearing it is a festival or a band at a beach bar. The university's open-air stage on St Thomas also puts on the occasional touring act or dance company.

Vieques has no home-grown scene like this and no stage of any kind. Its one real musical occasion is the yearly patron saint fiesta in Isabel Segunda, when bomba and plena fill the square. The rest of the year you might find a single guitarist in an Esperanza bar, and anything staged means a trip back to San Juan.

Neither island has a spa or bathing tradition, and both are restful in much the same way. The difference is in the setting. In the US Virgin Islands, proper spa treatments mean the larger resorts on St Thomas and St John, and for peace you stay on St John or St Croix's east end, away from the cruise traffic around Charlotte Amalie.

Vieques has the quiet everywhere: no high-rises, roosters instead of nightlife, and yoga or a massage arranged through a guesthouse rather than a resort.